Report from Washington, D.C.
House Passes FY 2015 NDAA While Senate Armed Services Committee Marks Up Its Version
On May 22, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 325-98. The bill provides policy guidance to the Department of Defense on strategic areas such as space and missile defense. The bill also authorizes funding to be appropriated for specific defense space programs. On…
House Armed Services Subcommittee Marks up FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act
On April 30, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces marked up its section of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill provides policy guidance to the Department of Defense (DoD) on strategic areas such as space and missile defense. The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to mark up the…
Congress Marks up Authorization and Appropriation Bills for NASA
On April 29, the House Science, Space, & Technology Committee marked up the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2014, H.R. 4412. The bill would authorize Fiscal Year 2014 appropriation levels for NASA at the $17.6 billion level agreed to in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, Public Law 113-76, which was signed into…
Space Foundation Issues Statement on President's FY15 NASA Budget Proposal
In March, the Space Foundation issued a statement supporting the Administration’s FY15 budget proposal for NASA, calling the budget proposal a “balanced approach to sustaining key NASA programs and capabilities, while increasing emphasis on next generation capabilities — within a budget constrained environment.” “The president’s proposal of $17.46 billion in FY15 funding for NASA is very…
Senate Evaluates Different Approaches for EELV Competition
On March 5, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense held a hearing, “National Security Space Launch Programs.” The Department of Defense (DoD) has begun implementation of a new Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) acquisition strategy to maintain reliability and stability in the industrial base, while reducing costs and introducing competition. The first phase of the…
Space Foundation Produces FY 2015 Budget Reports for DoD and NASA
The White House released its Fiscal Year 2015 budget request to Congress on March 4. The budget is normally issued in early February, but was delayed due to a delay in finalizing FY 2014 funding. The Space Foundation has produced two reports, providing overviews and comparisons of the Fiscal Year 2015 budgets. The reports include…
House Supports Strong Federal Science Funding
On March 26, the House Science, Space, & Technology Committee held a hearing entitled, “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Request for Science Agencies.” Members of the Committee agreed that investing in science and innovation was important for the United States’ maintaining a competitive economy and inspiring young people to study science,…
Senate Reviews FY 2015 Budget Request for Military Space Programs
On March 12, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces held a hearing entitled, “Military Space Programs.” The hearing covered a broad spectrum of issues facing the space community including, concept studies for future military satellite architectures, updates on current satellites under production, the future of EELV competition and the space situational awareness architecture,…
Space Foundation Visits Orbital Sciences Corporation
In February, a team from the Space Foundation’s Washington, D.C., office visited Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Va., and toured the mission control centers, as well as the spacecraft manufacturing facilities. It is at this location that the company’s spacecraft are designed, built and tested, including civilian, commercial and national security spacecraft. The tour included a…
House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space Holds Hearing
In February, the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space held a hearing on “Necessary Updates to the Commercial Space Launch Act.” The Commercial Space Launch Act (CSLA), first passed in 1984, and amended several times since then, gives authority to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to license commercial launches and indemnify launch providers…